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Lamonds case rehashed for Moore County jury

CARTHAGE — A Moore County jury heard two entirely different versions of what happened the day a police officer gave Teresa Lamonds a warning ticket for speeding in Candor in Montgomery County.

Lamonds is on trial charged with two counts of communicating threats against Candor police officer Grantland Jackson and one count of resisting arrest by Candor Police Sgt. James Pierce.

The trial is being held in Moore County because of pre-trial publicity. That warning ticket set off a series of events that nearly devastated the town budget, put the careers of the town’s police officers on the line and tarnished the reputation of the small town where the most excitement has always been the North Carolina Peach festival.

On May 6, 2009, Lamonds was stopped by Jackson for driving 49 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. He gave her a warning ticket. That fact is not disputed. A few minutes later, Jackson gave Lamonds’ husband, Johnny Lamonds, a warning ticket for following his police vehicle too closely. That fact is not disputed.

Johnny and Teresa built and have operated JL Hosiery, the largest industry in Candor, for 27 years. Jackson knew the business, but had never met the owners.

In the opening statement to the jury of five men and seven women, Assistant District Attorney Darren Allen said the warning ticket was “something silly that got blown out of proportion because of the arrogance and anger of the defendant.”

Allen said Jackson wrote a warning ticket “out of the goodness of his heart. Johnny Lamonds had pulled up behind Jackson’s patrol car and, when he wouldn’t back off, Jackson gave him a warning ticket.”

Teresa Lamonds went straight to town hall where Tammy Kellis, town clerk, and John Thompson, semi-retired from the maintenance department, were at work and demanded to know who that “skinny-ass” policeman was, that he had no business stopping her, that she ran a business in this town and if he ever stopped her again, she would kick his skinny ass in the middle of the street.

Teresa Lamonds then drove about a block to where Jackson had Johnny Lamond stopped, rolled down her window and yelled an expletive about the police department.

Sgt. James Pierce was not on duty, but came to the office, then went to Teresa Lamonds’ office to hear her complaint and suggested that she and her husband come to the police department to file a complaint.

Allen said Teresa Lamonds was in a state of anger and again threatened Jackson and told Pierce to leave her property. She said she poked Pierce in the chest with one finger. Pierce said she shoved him.

At that point, Pierce attempted to arrest her, put one arm behind her back to handcuff her. She fell to the floor to get away and did. She ran outside screaming, where she was put in handcuffs and rode in the front seat of the patrol car to the magistrate’s office in Troy.

Lamonds’ attorney, James Van Camp, said that “she broke the law is a theory of the prosecution” and described a brutal series of events.

Lamonds does not deny speeding, but a tire pressure warning light on Lamonds’ Cadillac Escalade had come on and obscured the speedometer. Van Camp said Jackson wouldn’t hear her explanation, was rude and abrasive toward her and when she said he ought to do something about speeders in town around her business, said he didn’t care about her business or her employees.

Lamonds went to town hall to file a complaint and admits she referred to Jackson as “that skinny policeman,” Van Camp said.

Van Camp said that instead of calling Lamonds to come in to the police department, he went to her office where she told him that she and her husband would be there in about 20 minutes.

Pierce was off-duty in street clothes and Lamonds was not convinced that he was a police officer and told him to leave, Van Camp said. Pierce left momentarily, came back and told Lamonds to “shut your g…d…. mouth and sit down”

Van Camp said Lamonds told Pierce to leave, then she tried to leave, but he grabbed her arm, threw her on the floor, pulled her up by the hair, threw her on the floor again and then against the wall. While Pierce was reaching for a phone, Lamonds crawled away and ran outside screaming.

Van Camp said Lamonds was beaten and bruised and her arm later required surgery.

This case was heard in Montgomery District Court on Oct. 13, 2009, and a judge found Lamonds guilty of the charges. Lamonds immediately appealed to superior court.

On Aug. 29, 2012, Superior Court Judge Bradford granted a change of venue to have her case heard in Moore County because of pre-trial publicity. That is the trial in progress now.

The pre-trial publicity was tied to the November 2011 election of two Town of Candor commissioners who were supported by the Lamonds. With the support of the sitting commissioner, the first act of the new commissioners at their first meeting in December 2011 was to fire four of the town’s five police officers, including Jackson and Pierce, effective at that meeting.

That action set off a series of meetings by Candor citizens who inundated the town board with vocal and written protests demanding the re-hiring of the officers and openly accusing the Lamonds of initiating the firings.

The media picked up the story statewide, especially since one of the new commissioners was a highway patrol trooper named Wayne Holyfield was under an internal investigation on non-criminal personnel issues by the highway patrol. Holyfield was officially dismissed from the highway patrol in May 2012.

In a separate criminal investigation by the SBI, Holyfield was charged with unlawfully assessing a government computer. That case is still pending. Holyfield, who is also represented by attorney Van Camp, was also granted a change of venue to Moore County.

Holyfield resigned from the town board and was replaced by a former commissioner. In just a few months, the four officers were offered their positions back. Jackson declined. He had gone to work for the City of Hamlet police department where he still works.

The other three returned to work, which saved the town thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits and ended legal action against the town for their dismissal.

Last February, Pierce won a summary judgment in Federal District Court on the charges alleging excessive force and malicious prosecution brought by Teresa Lamonds.